CANWin’s Food and Biodiversity team aims to re-localise food production to reduce food miles, build local food security, encourage biodiversity of food and sustainable agriculture, and support local farmers.

Our food choices shape not only our waistlines,
but also our world.

For more information on food group activities including activities at Moss Vale Community Garden, and skilling workshops in preserving, drying and jam-making, please contact Jill Cockram on 48834399.

UWS Food Workshop, September 2009

CANWin sponsored a member to attend the inaugural UWS Food Workshop held at the Hawkesbury campus of UWS.  An outomce of ther conference was a communique signed by all attendees.  The communique is here Final Communique- Feeding Sydney.

Sunday FRIENDS OF HARMONY COMMUNITY FARM WORKING BEEs 2009
Commencing 8.00am, this is a monthly event (every third Sunday) at Harmony Farm, a certified organic fruit and vegetable farm at Canyonleigh. The Friends and other interested locals complete three hours of seasonal activities to keep the farm fruitful using organic and environmentally sustainable practices. We then partake in a spot of lunch followed by an educational activity. The aim is to provide healthy, fresh locally grown food for the local community. If you would like to come along and be involved, please contact Jill on 4883 4399.

Coming up soon on Feb. 13 & 14:

Intro to Permaculture Weekend Workshop 2010

(click on this to download flyer)

BOOK IN NOW FOR the next LOCAL PDC COURSE.

Permaculture Design Certificate Course
Held at Berrima Public School
with David Johnson, Jill Cockram, and Debbie Hebbard plus guest lecturers
Course Outline
The course will cover the background knowledge, design skills and practical techniques of the Permaculture Institute’s 72-hour Permaculture Design Certificate Course. This PDC course will run over a full year, giving participants plenty of time to absorb the concepts, develop designs, and relate the ideas to the real world. The course involves one night per week during school terms and several trips to develop on-site design skills. Designs will be developed to cover the range of situations a designer might meet. This will include backyard town/urban/suburban planning, larger semi-rural acreage, and broadacre farm design and community planning.
Graduates are entitled to the Permaculture Design Certificate from the Permaculture Institute.

Course Fees: The full cost of the course is $600. A deposit of $100 is required to secure a place. The class size is limited to a maximum of 18, to encourage participation and facilitate learning.

Please ring David 4884 4214 or Jill 4883 4399 to indicate your interest.
or email enquiries@permaculturesouthernhighlands.info .

HOME CHEESEMAKING WORKSHOPS

Ever wanted to learn how to make your own homemade cheeses?
Without the need for fancy or expensive cheesemaking equipment, you can learn how to make the most delicious cheeses and cultured dairy products in your very own kitchen!

Workshop running in Penrose soon.  For more details, please phone Nathan on 0403370450 or email nathwilliamb@hotmail.com to book your place.

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What does food have to do with climate change?

Generally the greater the distance from paddock to plate, the greater the impact on the health of people, the land and the global climate. Increasingly in Australia supermarket shelves are being stocked with imported food and food products that have been hauled across thousands of kilometres: kiwifruit from Italy, oranges from Brazil. In the last four years Australia has had a 26% increase in imports of fresh produce.

Simply put a food mile is the distance food travels from where it is grown or raised to where it is ultimately purchased by the consumer. Then there is the distance travelled by fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides, fodder, containers, farm machinery etc. – in which case we take into account the whole industrial agriculture system, not simply distribution.. Processed or multiple ingredient food products frequently accumulate even more food miles. See Sydney Food Fairness Alliance discussion sheet Understanding Food Miles (http://www.sydneyfoodfairness.org.au/discussions/discussions.html)

The food purchased in this globalised system is not ‘cheap’ – there are high costs for farmers, for our environment and for our health. Food freight, especially by air and road, consumes vast amounts of fuel and energy, and releases greenhouse gases contributing to global climate change. Add to this the environmental impacts of packaging and processing and the real costs of the weekly shopping can be much bigger than people might at first think.

The Food /Biodiversity working group will identify local options for alternative food systems.
We will promote and strengthen support for:

• Community Gardens: We hope to identify a site for a demonstration garden where skills can be shared. A possible venue for a true farmers market with information stall.

• (Real) Farmers markets: Despite the dominance of supermarkets, there’s a major revival of farmers markets . They bring farmers better prices, the food is fresher and cheaper and shoppers interact with the people who grow their food.

• Organic agriculture systems wherever possible. Research has revealed that organic methods remove substantial amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by converting it into beneficial soil organic matter.

• animal friendly (non-intensive) farming practices.

• Local food co-ops: a great way to access affordable bulk goods and non-perishable produce with minimal waste.

• Home food gardening & seed saving : We will provide advice for people setting up home food gardens . You don’t need a lot of space to start a simple kitchen garden, growing and saving open-pollinated, non-hybrid vegetables and herbs. An edible landscape is more interesting – and tastier – than lawn. Growing fruit and vegetables teaches children – and their parents and teachers – the attitudes of care and respect needed to sustain life.

• Skills sharing on bottling and drying food produce.

At the same time we will save water. David Holgrem, Co-founder of permaculture, says backyard growers use only one fifth of the water to grow food as commercial growers use.

The food/biodiversity group will also promote:
*a campaign to reduce food packaging
*Fair Trade: for those food items that will be largely imported such as coffee.

We will be posting tips for reducing your ‘food miles’ as we draw on local knowledge, and aim to provide contact details for local Permaculture, Seedsavers etc.

So when you eat or shop remember the LOAF principles, seeking where possible food that is:

• Local
  
• Organic
  
• Animal friendly
• Fairly Traded